Favorite Cardamom Tasty Holiday Cut-out Cookies

These are just delicious with that subtle cardamom flavor. I buy fresh cardamom from the bins at a healthy foods store, it's fresher than the cardamom in little spice tins and jars. Some cut-out cookies don't have much flavor, but these are so good that I eat many of them before I get the icing made. This is from a Woman's Day magazine recipe.

What is cardamom? It has been called the Queen of Spices. It's the third most expensive spice in the world, and one of the oldest. It's a relative of the ginger family, and very aromatic with a complex flavor. It is strong, yet delicate. Sweet, yet powerful.

Swedish Sugar Cookies

3 sticks (1 1/2 cups) unsalted butter, softened (I used salted butter and used 1/4 tsp. additional salt instead of 1/2 tsp.)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
2 tsp. ground cardamom
1/2 tsp salt (1/4 tsp if using salted butter)
1 large egg
4 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

1. Beat butter, sugars, vanilla, cardamom and salt in a large bowl with mixer on medium speed until creamy. Beat in egg until fluffy, then beat in flour at low speed just until blended.

2. Divide dough into thirds. Shape each third into a 1 inch thick disk; wrap separately, and refrigerate 1 hour til firm. (I didn't do this as I've found that sometimes dough gets too firm in the frige. So I just rolled out one disk at a time and didn't refrigerate any of it. However I use a canvas rolling cloth, with lots of flour rubbed into it, and a cloth-covered rolling pin with lots of flour rubbed into it, so the dough never sticks to the canvas or the rolling pin.)

3. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

4. Roll out 1 disk at a time to 1/4 inch thickness. Note: The dough does not rise when baked, so it is important to roll it at least 1/4 inch thick, not any thinner.

5. Using floured cutters, cut into 5 inch, 4 inch, and 3 inch shapes.

6. Bake til light brown at edges, 11 to 13 minutes for smaller cookies, bake 16 to 18 minutes for larger shapes.

7. Cool on wire rack. Decorate with your favorite icing and candy sprinkles etc.